Columbus School District students gear up for animated film debut

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus School District is gearing up to roll out the red carpet.

The district recently incorporated a new program that gets area students involved in the art of story-telling through animation.

In a few weeks, the district will host a premiere for their very first animated feature film created by kids.

Wonder Media has partnered with the Columbus School District to create “Story Maker” — a state of the art, animation program.

“The intention behind the program originally was to ignite student’s interest in writing,” said Sandra Brace.

Brace is the Director of Education Partnerships at Wonder Media.

She said this final film project has been years in the making.

“Columbus was the first School District that was brave enough to take this brand new platform on when we quite frankly didn’t even know what it was either at the time,” said Brace.

Superintendent Dr. Cherie Labat lends her voice talents to the project.

She said, “Story Maker” is moving the district in the right direction.

“It’s very much aligned to their core curriculum, and they are learning the skills that they need for the twenty-first century. You know, like, collaboration, English Language Arts, you know, working as a team,” said Dr. Labat.

The students are expected to write, produce, and direct their own original content.

“They need to produce content that is from that character’s voice. So, there’s so many levels of understanding that is brought forth by the experience, but it’s all surrounded by the joy of creating animation,” said Brace.

“It’s moments like this, as a leader, that you realize they can do anything. They need exposure. They need the ability to have opportunities like this, to have deep conceptual understanding, to think critically, to analyze, to problem solve,” said Dr. Labat.

Since their partnership with Columbus, Wonder Media has expanded to schools all across the nation.

“The beauty of Story Maker is that it can access and be a part of any school culture… It allows for this wonderful, new education partnership model. So, we are all learning together regardless of our age, our ability, or our strengths,” said Brace.

The Wonder Grove Wizard of Oz will premiere at the Malco Theater in Columbus on January 15th.

The program was paid for through a grant by 4 County.